Take Another Path
by Renaisty
Summary: What if Vilgax had come after that fateful football game at the start of AF? Another Anodite is in the making...
1. Zero: Take another Path

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10: Alien Force. It is the property of Man of Action.**

**Crossroads – Zero**

**Take Another Path**

The glare of the sun prevented the players from seeing, but each team was determined to win. The match was almost over, only twenty seconds left. Cash passed to JT and he was heading for the goalposts. He tried to score, but the other team's goalkeeper caught the ball just as it was about to enter the posts. The other team had won.

As the cheers quieted down, they started again, this time for the MVP award that was presented to the goalkeeper. The stadium started to empty, as more and more people left. Halfway through though, something happened, that made it a necessity for them to get out of the stadium. Only the goalkeeper noticed.

"Um, guys," he said to the other members of the team, not really knowing how to handle the situation, "can these people get out of here faster?"

"Why, Ben?" one of his teammates asked, bemused.

"Because… there's this thing in the sky, that's coming towards us?" he said, the statement coming out as a question instead.

"What are you blabbing about, Tennyson?" Cash wouldn't miss a chance to insult the other boy.

"If you'd look _up_ instead of just staying here offending me you'd know!" he shot back, ticked off.

"He's right; do you think it's an alien?"

Ben suddenly had the feeling that he knew who was inside that spacecraft, and he didn't like it, not at all… Not when it was so obviously the _same_ spacecraft.

"Look, can you get the people out of here? I need to make a phone call." He told his teammates; they nodded, not missing the tone in his voice that revealed their friend was serious.

Ben ran to his sack and quickly pulled out his phone. He pushed the buttons with lightning speed, calling the number of the Rust Bucket. No one answered. Normally he would have found that strange, but today he was in too much of a hurry to think about it. He looked around; there were a lot of people left to go. Irritated, he called the second number that had popped into his head. He simultaneously went over to his friends to help get the individuals out of the stadium.

"Yes?" a female voice answered after a few rings.

"Gwen, come to where we have the match _now_! Can't explain, it has to do with- eh," he hesitated, looking at the people surrounding him. "… A certain Chimera Sui Generis, I believe."

The stadium was empty now, bar Cash and JT, his teammates, their coach and a girl with brown eyes and short black hair. She had an expression of confusion on her face. Ben didn't know why, but he felt a warm feeling when he looked at her, as well as something in his stomach, like fluttering. _'What are you thinking, Tennyson, this is neither the time nor the place to be thinking of how beautiful this girl looks'_, he chastised himself.

"Now, what was the emergency?" his coach wanted to know.

"This!" Ben pointed at Vilgax's ship, the one he could recognise anywhere, fast approaching. Despite being fast, however, it was still a few minutes away. "You've got to clear out, unless you want to get killed." he tried to make his tone light-hearted, but the warning was recognised as true by everyone except Cash.

"Don't you mean _we_ have to clear out?" asked George, one of his teammates at the same time when Cash said, "I bet he just wants to take all the fame!"

"What fame?" he asked, taken aback.

"He'll see the alien first and all the channels will want to interview him!" Cash presented his _brilliant_- note the sarcasm- theory. Ben was left speechless, but not for long.

"Well, stay and get killed. I just don't want to have your death weighting on my conscience." he grumbled. "Will you all go?" he spoke to the others.

"What about you?" George seemed concerned.

"I'll… my bike is the other way. Now go!"

As they left, Ben let out a relieved sigh. He was a little surprised to see Cash heading away with the others, but he couldn't complain. He ran for his bike, which was just outside the pitch, in the opposite direction the others had taken (he had not lied about that). If he could just reach his house and the Omnitrix… He never made it there. A laser beam hit the ground before him, stopping him in his tracks. The spaceship was hovering in midair, allowing a figure to jump down a short distance away from the frightened child. Ben was sure to mask his feelings a moment after.

"How predictable. It figures that you would stay until everyone is gone, Tennyson, to make sure nobody has been left behind. You never were one to save your own skin and leave others to die. You'd rather have it the other way around. Such foolishness…" Vilgax's voice echoed through the pitch. He began to approach the fifteen-year-old, who looked very small in comparison.

"What do you want, Vilgax?" Ben asked, defiantly. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this but he _would_ find a way. He always did. Right now, however, things didn't look so good; he didn't have the Omnitrix, he was alone in the centre of a pitch that had no weapons whatsoever- or anything that could be used as such-, nor could it provide much cover.

"Isn't it obvious, Tennyson? The Omnitrix." Vilgax replied, still moving towards him.

"Well, I don't have it anymore! I took it off _years_ before!" Ben said, knowing that _that_ wouldn't save him. He needed something else. He was backing up, slowly, but enough for Vilgax to continue walking to reach him.

Suddenly, the villain let out a laugh. It froze Ben as surely as if Big Chill had breathed on him- not that he could make the connection, seeing as he hadn't put the Omnitrix on again. It was the same laugh the villain had laughed when, all these years ago, when he had held his cousin and grandparent's unconscious bodies, daring him to surrender in exchange for their survival.

"Such a pity!" Vilgax exclaimed with mock sadness. "Then, maybe I should pay a visit to your house…"

"What?" Ben half-shouted, not having expected that. "Leave them alone, you- you- you villain wannabe! You couldn't even get the Omnitrix from a ten-year-old!"

This time, Vilgax didn't bother to talk. He fired a laser beam at Ben, who barely dodged it; it hit the pitch and made a crater-like hole. Ben had evidently hit a nerve with his insult. He shuddered to think what would've happened, had the weapon hit him. Vilgax continued to launch attacks, with a little less force than the first- if he killed the kid, how would he take the information he wanted?

Ben kept avoiding the beams for about half a minute, but then, one of them hit so close to him that he was blasted sideways. He couldn't get back up in time. Vilgax raised a gigantic fist, and stroke.

The former bearer of the Omnitrix put his hands up, wishing there was something separating him and the villain. There was no way out of this, he only hoped he was lucky but, knowing Vilgax, he'd never be able to escape. Without the Omnitrix he truly _was_ nothing.

When he only felt a throbbing pulsing through his body, he looked up; and stared. His outstretched hands were _somehow_ supporting a see-through shield, which was, shockingly, a magenta colour. When had Gwen got there? Vilgax seemed miffed.

"So, you have the spark, Tennyson? And I was so sure you didn't…" he trailed off, raising his fist for another punch.

"What 'spark' are you talking about?" Ben screamed at him. The second strike had sent an even stronger pounding through his already tired body. He began to doubt his earlier belief about Gwen having arrived. Where the hell was she?

"Oh, you don't know? That just makes it easier for me!" bragged the alien.

The hits landed one after the other, making cracks appear on the shield. When it shattered, Ben flew back a good eight feet away, landing on his back. The teen acted on impulse, putting up another shield. With its fate looking just as bleak as the first one, Ben used all his power and _shoved_. And Vilgax flew all the way to the other side of the pitch, Ben's shield dissipating to nothing.

The teen started running towards his bike, but Vilgax wouldn't stay down for long. An explosion rocked the ground, and Ben flew through the air, landing on his side, his body too drained to move- though that may have had something to do with all the smoke he'd inhaled, too. The alien walked over to him, picking him up with one hand easily. As he was approaching his ship, however, something got in his way.

It was a girl, wearing a pink hoodie and a short white skirt. Her hair was short and black, her features Asian-looking. Her eyes were a pretty brown. She had an expression of determination etched on her face.

"Leave him alone, you freak!" she shouted at Vilgax bravely, but, unfortunately for them, courage alone is not enough on some situations. The Chimera Sui Generis lifted a hand and hit her- or tried to- with enough force to shatter half of her bones. Luckily, she flung aside avoiding the blow, tennis training coming handy.

Just then, a shield covered her, protecting her from injury. A teenager redhead girl on a magenta see-through platform descended from the sky. Her eyes were the same stunning green as the teen now in Vilgax's grasp. She couldn't help but gawk at the scene before her.

"That is… unexpected. The puny cousin of Tennyson shows up to save the day. Too bad that you don't stand a chance against me." The squid-faced alien laughed. "I didn't imagine this would be so easy."

Gwen had cast a sneaky spell as Vilgax was absorbed in his megalomaniac ramblings. It would make the next spell she performed ten times stronger.

"Somnus!" she shouted with confidence.

"What?" drawled the extraterrestrial, "That pathetic excuse for a piece of magic didn't even hit me." he bragged. Too late, he realised his mistake, as fatigue started to overtake his body. He tried to resist, unsuccessfully. In barely half a minute, he was fast asleep. The two girls ran up to the crumpled figure, the scarlet-headed one searching for her cousin's mana. They pulled the brunet out of the creature's grip, realising he had lost consciousness. More people started approaching, one of them noticeably larger than the other two.

"What happened?" asked a perplexed George, expressing the collective confoundedness of his companions. "You're Ben's cousin, aren't you?"

"Even if you didn't know, it would've been obvious, with that jerk over there" she pointed to Vilgax's fallen form, "announcing it to the world!" she rolled her eyes.

"I knew Tennyson was a freak, ha, I so knew it!" the obnoxious voice of Cash piped up. His brain had evidently not had enough time to connect with his mouth, and that was proven just a second after, when his comment was answered.

"Don't you DARE call him a freak EVER AGAIN! There'll be hell to pay!" the voice coming out of the seemingly sweet black haired girl promised pain. Cash gulped, visibly afraid of the fuming teen.

Gwen then showed Vilgax's minions his body and made them take it and leave.

Just when the ship was taking off, the one on the ground started moving, his eyelids fluttering and jade eyes becoming visible. As they opened completely, the figure shot up so fast half of the people surrounding him took a step back in surprise. After confirming no threat was nearby, he placed a hand over his forehead, groaning from the dizziness the action caused.

"What happened? Where's squid-face?"

"He retreated," said Gwen conversationally, "because he needed some more rest. It's nothing to worry about."

"And all these..."

"They won't say anything; or I could erase their memories if you wanted."

"Nah, it's not necessary. If, however, they say anything, I will personally hunt you down and make you regret it." This was largely directed at Cash.

"I think you've found yourself a girlfriend, Tennyson," called George over his shoulder as he was leaving with the coach and Cash. Ben and the girl blushed.

After the three had left, Gwen said goodbye, and Ben promised he would put on the Omnitrix as soon as he went home. He was left alone with the black-haired girl.

"Hi," she said, "my name is Julie."

**A/N: This is like the prologue story to a series of stories (one-shots or chaptered) called Crossroads. They will mostly be crossovers with other fandoms I am fond of, or follow episodes. Read & Review!**


	2. One: FbU Ch1: Broken Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or the other copyrighted category (ha! I'm making you guess!) Stay AWAY, you mean lawsuits! (That sounded SO juvenile…)**

**A/N: I'm so sorry about how late I am! Apart from my laziness, I've got two excuses: The first is I had end-of-the-year exams, and while I normally study an hour for each subject or something, this year it was more difficult and I had to try a little more (three hours per subject…) All went well, thankfully, but schoolwork gets in the way of inspiration. I wrote half of this chapter today for you guys.**

**Crossroads - One**

**Future be Undone**

**Chapter 1 – Broken Promise**

"Ben! Where in the world were you? Do you know what time it is?"

"Well… you see, I saw Gwen, and then we accidentally met up with someone we'd met when we were on the road trip with grandpa five years ago, and time kinda passed without us noticing… Sorry mum," he apologised.

What else could he have said? 'Hi mum! You know, grandpa's missing. The alien business is back and bigger than ever, I've got ten new aliens and the same powers as Gwen. Oh and the highlight? I think Gwen and Kevin 11 have a thing for each other.'

He couldn't do that. His parents didn't even know about the Omnitrix; they had no idea that the real reason he and Gwen had got so close was because of the alien fighting and not because of spending some quality time together. They didn't know that Vilgax had not given up on taking the watch; they _couldn't_ know. His mother and father at least had to be protected from his extra-terrestrial troubles.

And he was tired, so mentally and physically and emotionally tired he could not keep himself up. He'd have to work on staying up late.

"Goodnight," he said, half-heartedly from weariness.

_He was in a dark, stone hallway. What he could see had the distinct edge of being old, like watching a documentary featuring pictures from way before they perfected image details. Around him, there were three boys and one girl, though the four seemed closer to adulthood than he. The girl was sobbing hard in the arms of one guy. The others seemed to be silent out of respect and sorrow._

_"My best friend, my best friend…" she sobbed another heart-breaking sob._

_"I know, believe me I know," he soothed, in a sad tone. "It's going to get better after a while, I promise."_

_"I don't want to lose you too."_

_"Sweetheart, I can't promise that will not happen, but I'll do my best to stay alive. I promise."_

_"_Don't promise!_" she screamed. The three friends –dare he assume that? –started, their silent solemnity broken. "She promised me we were going to see our children grow together; she promised she was going to see this through by our side!"_

_"It is fine, Flower, we'll try our best, okay? At the end of the year-"_

_"No! It won't come, never come! I won't lose you to this, I swear!" she said, and he could see the traces of a strong spirit on those eyes; the fire was still burning, but the broken promise had done a lot of damage. "I swear on the ground on which we stand, on Ali's broken promise and all the time I knew her, that day will never come; never!"_

"No, don't!" he screamed. His eyes opened, only to stare at the uninteresting ceiling.

So, it had been a dream. Great dream… On the other hand, that meant it was not real, which was fine with him. "I have a very bad feeling about this…" he muttered. How right he was…

Suddenly he sensed impending danger, and it was near. His unthinking reaction was to slap the Omnitrix, and he transformed into a crab-like alien. He didn't know what it could do, or how it could be useful.

His sense of danger warned him that it had reached him. But there was no attack, no spaceship crashing through the house, no nothing.

It was a different kind of danger, as it proved not a second later. His mind was assaulted by a force seeking, trying to find something. He doubted any of his aliens could have escaped; the Omnitrix had turned him to normal. However, now he knew he could do other things too. He could use the same powers as Gwen, right? He tried to picture a shield, _something_ to stand between him and the attack, only it felt like he was being attacked from everywhere…

He ended up constructing an amethyst bubble around himself; no matter, that worked as a shield –right? He was not safe yet, though, he could feel it straining to block that power, and it would fail soon.

Dammit, he was not giving up! He tried to find the source of his powers; he had some experience in this type of searching from when the Omnitrix transformed him into a new alien. He was surprised to discover that his whole being was filled with the strange amethyst energy. He poured as much of it as he could into his defence, and for a moment it seemed as if he could hold the attack at bay.

Then the shield shattered into a thousand pieces and the pressure almost crushed him. He could feel each piece, charged with energy, cutting at his arms, his legs, his face. No, he had to resist, he had to.

The blackness behind his tightly closed eyes seemed to become even darker. He tried to fight it as long as possible but at last he succumbed to unconsciousness. His last thought had been to curse himself for being so weak.

_Future be Undone_

Verdona flew through space quickly as possible. And because we're talking about an Anodite, that is way too fast.

It had been beyond easy to find out that every Anodite who had not mastered their powers had been affected. The hovering-on-the-spot-with-their-eyes-open-and-an-idiotic-expression had been a sure sign (all the teachers had agreed it had been too good to be true; everyone suddenly loved meditation?) Even easier it had been to come to the conclusion that every thinking creature on the surrounding planets was in the same condition.

There; Earth was straight ahead.

The sole reason she had been elected to come here was because she was the only one who knew this part of space. But really, who dealt with part Anodites when the lone semi-active planet was on red alert? Anyway, the one who caused the disturbance should have been affected too, thus posing no further threat, but no, they did not want her to help, she was much more useful going after a potential full Anodite. She will most definitely have to carry them back to Anodyne.

But it was a chance to learn what had become of Max. The moments they had shared were still in her heart. As much as sometimes the teasing became too much to ignore, if she was being honest with herself she had to admit she was still in love with that human. She had no regrets for it, too. Maybe, if the others managed to reverse whatever had happened, he would one day agree to go to Anodyne with her. But he loved his family too much; and she loved him for it.

Speaking of Max… The huge mana explosion had happened in Bellwood, she had been told. What if…? No, it was probably a one sixty-fourth Anodite who had the spark. So many generations before that the being in question would have forgotten about Earth. It was of no consequence, however, if you were half-Anodite or one thirty-second; you only had to have the spark.

The streets were filled with hovering people. Earth had evidently not escaped this bizarre, potentially dangerous phenomenon.

She was in sight of the house now. She could feel the way the mana had imploded, either from the attacking energy or from bad control. But there was something odd about it. It was the most controlled mana she had felt in an untrained Anodite for a while now. Usually, they did not know what to do and ended up releasing a mana storm or destroying their planets (thankfully, that had been avoided in most cases.)

Easily, the window with the broken glass was the right one. She floated through the opening to inspect.

The bedroom was in mayhem. Every piece of furniture had been overturned, the wardrobe door flung open and the clothes ripped, and the place smelt of ash. Amidst the chaos, a young man was on the floor. His clothes were slashed, his arms and legs oozing blood and even his brown hair was covered in the substance. It was a boy, surprisingly. Girls had been the dominant sex of the Anodites for a while now, it seemed.

With a quick spell everything was back in order. Only then did Verdona grasp the strangeness. Of all the people she had seen so far, he was the only one not affected!

**A/N: Sorry again for the unforgivable lateness but let's face it, it's a bit much to be writing fourteen stories at the same time (most of them are not published). Don't worry; I've always been good with multitasking. Thanks for reading; you are welcome to give constructive criticism and point out any mistakes! Ren out!**


	3. One: FbU Ch2: Figuring it Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or Harry Potter. If anyone sues me, I'll go Big Chill and freeze them on the spot. So, lawyers, you'd better stay away, hear me? (Author waves around her certificate of being a clinically crazy person…)**

**A/N: PLEASE READ! Thanks for all the favourites and follows, but since I'm new to this non-premade multi-chapter business I'd like some reviews. Along with motivation, I also want suggestions, ideas, and guesses, anything you want. Just encourage me please! Thanks again! And I'm so sorry for the long wait, but writer's block and writing 21 stories plus this one and an original work simultaneously can limit a person…**

**Double update! I hope the chapters live up to your expectations…**

**Crossroads – One**

**Future be Undone**

**Chapter 2 – Figuring it Out**

"What in the name of the universe!" Verdona marvelled. With a wave of her hand, she lifted the unconscious young man –not even that; _boy_ would have been a more accurate description- on the bed. With practised ease, she started meticulously examining his injuries for infection, closing the wounds and evaporating the blood. Once she was done with that, she fixed his clothes with a snap of her fingers. That's when she noticed it.

Its face had been covered with blood, making it seem like a normal watch. But the intergalactic symbol of peace was unmistakably on the face of the device. What was a fifteen-year-old doing with a thing like that? Was he part of the Plumbers at such a young age?

Without warning, the boy opened his eyes and rolled off the bed, bringing the device up to his face, right hand ready to press on the dial. She hadn't even noticed his regaining consciousness. His eyes were on her, searchingly regarding her presence. They were beautiful eyes, toxic green, somehow soft and piercing at the same time. They were Max's eyes.

She was quite possibly looking at her own grandson.

"Who are you?" he asked her, suspicious. His stare was the same as Max's, and it made her all the more confident in her assumptions.

"I believe I am your grandmother, sweetie!" she said, in that happy, uncaring tone that was her specialty.

Nobody quite realized how difficult being a full Anodite was. Being forced to see your loved ones die, their own wishes preventing you from helping them, while you live on… there is nothing that hurts more. Anodites help tons of people so their families can be with them for as long as possible, but they have learned to detach themselves from very intense emotions; it just hurts too much, so much that you cannot keep it up for long.

Ben's mouth snapped open. He was sure his jaw would be hitting the floor anytime now. He was pretty sure he was not related to any aliens. But then… where did Gwen get her powers from? And him too, he reminded himself.

Since their powers were the same, they could only have come from Max. But Max had no powers, and God knows what aliens he met on his travels… Oh great… He did _not_ just go there!

"Why should I believe you?" he questioned.

"You don't have to," she said quietly. Her sharp eyes caught the edge of a textbook peeking out of his school bag. 'Benjamin Tennyson' "But, since your last name is Tennyson, I think it is safe to assume you are the child of Carl or Frank."

"Carl," Ben automatically responded, and then berated himself. Who knew what this alien had in mind or who she was working for?

"Please, do not be afraid. I simply was sent to check upon an inexperienced member of my species whose powers overflowed and could mean danger for this planet. And to think it is my own grandson…" she chuckled lowly. Just think of the irony.

"You don't look as if you're the same species as me," he said, dryly. His hand was still hovering over the Plumber badge.

In a flash, gone was the purple glow that had been surrounding her. Instead, she was a human female at her thirties, with reddish brown, straight hair, blue eyes and an indigo summer dress.

"Oh, I think your eyes may deceive you!" She quickly explained about Anodites and the Spark, and finally, _finally_ Ben's hand left the space over the watch. He trusted her enough to not be openly on his guard. Her powers alone could detect the flexed muscles, ready to coil and spring any moment. Her grandson had to watch for stress levels…

"Then, I think we'd better go get Gwen. She is my cousin and I think she also has the Spark." Hearing this, Verdona cursed herself for her foolishness. Here she was, doting over her grandson whereas at least the Milky Way galaxy and who knew how many more were possibly in serious danger!

"What the-" she looked up to her grandson, who had gone and opened the window, like he meant to get out through there. "What's happened?"

"I was rather hoping you would tell me," she admitted. "You see, this also happened to my planet, and only the full Anodites were unaffected. Which brings us to this; you're the only one in this town who is not affected, and I do not know how you managed it!" He turned to her.

"I don't know! All I know is I tried to make a shield like Gwen does! I fuelled it with everything I had, all my energy, and it was still not enough! The shield broke and everything went blank, that's all I remember."

She looked to the ground, pensive. "That does not help me much. However, now I know that there was enough time for an oblivious Anodite to create a shield and fuel it to the point of bursting before they were affected. That-"

"Well…" he interrupted her, embarrassed, "there really wasn't so much time. It's just that I had a weird dream that woke me up, just a few seconds before. I felt whatever it was getting nearer."

Now he had her full attention.

"Surely it cannot be…" she whispered, aghast. "Of course, how could I have forgotten?"

"Forgotten what?" He did _not_ like being out of the loop, not where people's safety was concerned.

"Show me your dream, Ben; now!" she demanded. "Just think back to it, and I'll be able to see it.

"Will you read my mind or anything?" he said, uneasy. But already, the urgency in her tone prompted the dream to the foremost of his mind. Maybe this was important. She put two fingers lightly on his temple, seeing the scene just how it happened. Unconsciousness had not muddled the details in his mind.

Once the exchange was complete, she sighed.

"Can you tell me what was all that about?" he asked, slightly peeved. She didn't blame him. She would not want for an almost stranger to go through her thoughts.

"It seems," she began, choosing her words carefully, "that you saw what I am certain was the cause of our current problem. What caused this was not a power continuously touching every corner of the galaxy, but rather a single wave affecting everything in its path. That's why when your shield crumpled, you were not affected; it had already passed you."

"But if it was a single wave, wouldn't it touch me for only one second?"

"It was travelling slower than normal. _Very_ slowly; a wave generated by a single person able to reach every corner of our galaxy and very likely go on to others should be lightning fast," she pondered.

"But it wasn't travelling through space," he said wonderingly when a brainwave hit him. "At least, not _only_ space. It was travelling through space and _time_!"

She suddenly saw it. Clear as day, in front of her eyes. A girl's refusal to accept that a day would come, had trapped every thinking creature within the memories or premonitions of the happiest time they would know. That was the only explanation of the thoughts running through everyone's heads in connection to the dream her grandson had.

There was a popping sound. They both turned at where the noise had come from. The only thing to see, however, was a post-it stuck on the wall. Ben approached it carefully, but he needn't have worried.

_I've always known you have an innate understanding of space/time continuum. – Paradox_

"What in the world-? Who is this 'Paradox' guy?"

"Not important," Verdona said, irritated at the time traveller. Trust him to be fooling around when there was an intergalactic emergency. "What matters is that we should get where that girl is as soon as possible. We must hurry."

"But we don't know where she is," he sighed. "Do we?"

"No being is strong enough to generate such an amount of energy, not even an Anodite. She had to have a tremendous source of mana nearby, which leaves us with only one option. A place I had to visit the last time I was here because of its magical pull." She turned back to her Anodite form and started to hover. "Come on."

"Okay, but where are we going?" he turned the dial of the Omnitrix, stopping at Jetray. The thing had better work!

"We're going to England, to a place called Hogwarts."

**A/N: Tell me your thoughts!**


	4. One: FbU Ch3: Setting Things Right

**A/N: I do not own Ben 10 or Harry Potter, so the lawyers had better stay from me. Do I LOOK like I'm making profit? Humph!**

**Crossroads – One**

**Future be Undone**

**Chapter 3 – Setting Things Right**

Big Chill started laughing, Verdona looking on in bemusement. "What is so funny?"

"Seriously, they named the place after a hog's warts?" Then he noticed something, and the laughing stopped. "Oh, man, I wanted Jetray! Stupid thing…"

Verdona smiled and flew out the window while he was complaining to his 'watch'.

"Hey! Wait! Verdona- I mean, Grandma, whatever- wait!" He hastily went out of the window after her. Because of her, they made it in less than ten minutes. Due to the time difference, in England it was morning instead of before dawn.

"I had almost forgotten how beautiful this place is," she smiled. They were flying over the countryside, fast approaching a lake and some ruins. Verdona glowed extra bright for a moment, diving into the lake immediately after. Okay, maybe the entrance was underwater…

He followed her under the water, surprised to see her surface again. Once he also found the way up, he turned to human.

"Is there a way in?" he asked.

"Of course there is. I just wanted to have a little fun." She flew higher, making as if to dive but breaking at the last moment and instead dipping her hand into the water, watching delightedly as her speed made a line appear after it in the calm surface. "Don't you ever fly just for fun? Don't you want to just feel the air on your skin and the power on your fingertips?"

"I don't have time for that. I have to find Grandpa Max. That's the only reason I put on the watch again." He started swimming to the edge of the lake.

"Max is missing?" Verdona exclaimed.

"Yes. I guess you guys… eew… But aren't we supposed to be going somewhere?"

"And I'm sure that's not the only reason," she countered.

"Well, I do enjoy beating up bad guys…" He looked away, though, expressionless. He would have to get used to the feel of it again. It had been good while it lasted.

For five years, he got to forget all about the alien business. He could finally live like a normal person after the utter craziness of that summer. Okay, forget Eon… Now, everything was going by so fast again, as if putting on the watch was a switch that woke up the bad guys. _'Or,'_ he mused, _'they've never been gone. I just didn't notice them.'_

Verdona took his hand and they rose to the air. For some reason, the sensation was no longer as enjoyable. Maybe because he knew he would not survive if he fell.

"I can use the Omnitrix to fly, you know."

"Yes, but technology usually short-circuits when it is very close to this place. I don't know about 20+ level that this device seems to be, but better not take any chances. See, here it is." She pointed to the ruins he had noticed earlier.

"It's just an old ruin. Whatever was here is long gone," he said, disbelieving.

His Grandmother shook her head, and lowered them both over the abandoned courtyard. With a wave of her hand the place underwent a major transformation in his eyes. The towers were standing again, and the protective walls were strong once more. Kids were sitting around, talking and laughing.

"So, still an old ruin?" she asked, smug.

"Did you turn time back?"

"No, I just allowed you to see what really exists here. The enchantments are strong, but not unbreakable for an Anodite. One of them, however," she pointed to the kids, "would be unable to touch them."

She changed his clothes to a black- cloak, robe, whatever that was- and they managed to slip into the school unnoticed, two students nobody had seen before.

"Why aren't they frozen?"

"It seems we have already succeeded, which means that this girl initiated the wave in the past, which in turn means that we should not expect to find her here, so we might have to find descendants."

"So, in this school, where do we go?" Ben asked, preferring to let her handle that stuff. The stone hallways shook him up a little, but the whole thing made him feel like a secret agent.

"We find the girl nicknamed 'Flower' and we find out what happened to her best friend. Our only chance is to try to change it, or better yet, prevent it altogether."

"But there must be hundreds of students-"

She motioned him to be quiet.

"Come on, Lily-flower, introduce him to me. How bad could it be? It's not like he's a professor…"

"I said _no_, James! Just go whine to Al about it, but I'm telling you only when I want to! And stop calling me 'Flower'!"

"Why, it's a nice name. Grandpa used to call Grandma that all the time! Dad told me."

"Okay…"

Two redheaded students rounded the corner. The boy was older and had blue eyes, while the girl had brown eyes instead.

"Excuse me," Verdona closed their way. She looked like a version of Gwen with blue eyes, so she could pass for a student. "Do you know if your Grandmother had a friend named 'Ali'?" Ben was stunned at her straight-forwardness. He was a to-the-point person but not like that.

The duo stopped bickering to stare at the two. James looked them up and down, probably wondering why he had never seen them before.

"Well, she had a friend named Alice, if that's who you mean. But you can't find any of them. Grandmother Lily is dead, and Alice is… not well…" the girl said, eager. "Why do you want her?"

"Lily!" James hissed. She shrugged, nonchalant.

"Is there anyone else who knows her?"

"Her son works here, he's the Herbology professor. His office is on the second floor."

James dragged Lily away before she could say more. Verdona and Ben passed the Great Hall, leaving the Omnitrix bearer gaping, and she pulled him through the ceiling to the second floor.

"Someone could have seen us!" he exclaimed. She ignored him.

"Excuse me, but do you know where the Herbology professor's office is?" she asked a black haired, green eyed boy.

"Neville? That's his office," he pointed to a door. "But he has a lesson right now, so you might want to wait a few minutes."

"Thank you."

"What's Herbology, anyway?" Ben asked.

"It's the study of plants and their uses. It's a magical subject."

She left it at that, and he did not bother to ask further. "Okay, so what do we ask him?"

"Oh no, we just have to find out his surname so we can see when his mother lived." Verdona said, slipping inside the office.

"But we could have just asked that kid outside!" he said, exasperated.

"Oh, Ben, live a little! What's the fun in that?"

It turned out the professor's name was 'Longbottom'. Ben had a good laugh at that before they went to leave. But they were stopped by a man entering the office.

"Who are you? I don't believe I've seen you before. Do you want help in Herbology?"

"No, but we want some information," Ben told him, embarrassed at being caught. "It's about your mother."

His cheerful face faltered. He looked at them searchingly. "What do you want to know? I thought everybody knew already."

"What happened to her? My, um, friends don't want to tell me, though they all know."

"A few years after she graduated, she was… well she was tortured to madness by Death Eaters believing her and my dad knew where Voldemort was. That was after the first Wizarding War." Neville's calm façade was marred only by his hands, balled into fists. They thanked him and quickly left the room.

"I told you we would not ask him!" Verdona snapped.

"Yes, but you did not tell me that we may have saved that girl from death only to condemn her to madness some years later," he snapped back. "I'm not doing this!" he said stubbornly.

"You've already done it," she said gently. "And would you condemn that man we just saw to nonexistence? He has a wife, and kids of his own. All those photos in his office… would you do that to them?"

Ben looked down. "No," he sighed. "Fine, you win."

"Hold on. I have a sample close to her magical signature from her child." He got a hold of her arm, and suddenly they were flying through time.

The big hall of a house that must have once been whole lay in shambles before them. People in black cloaks were fighting against what looked like a family; most of them were already dead.

"There!" Verdona pointed to a girl no older than seventeen. The likeness between her and her son was evident in the shape of the face, and that same determination they had seen on Neville's eyes. She was still fighting, throwing jets of light (spells, Ben thought) at any black-clad person getting near her.

Quick as lightning, Verdona was beside her and he had become a new alien. He looked at himself; he looked like a combination between a monkey and a spider. How to name it…

"Spider-monkey!" He jumped amidst the chaos. "So… are you guys the same as the Death Eaters that I heard about earlier?" he stole a few sticks here and there (wands, maybe?). "Because if you are, then I have a question to ask! Is death tasty? Because, you know, you eat it right?" He shot web at a guy and watched in amusement as he lost his footing. Next, he was faced with a female Death Eater. "I don't like fighting girls, how 'bout I tell you a joke instead?" he frantically avoided her frightened spell-casting. "Says the witch to her wizard: Will you still love me when I'm old and ugly? And he answers: Well I do, don't I? Get it?" she growled, now angry, and fired a green spell at him. Not missing a beat, he webbed her up to the ceiling and stole her wand.

Every Death Eater was down. From the family, the only one still alive was Alice and an older lady. "Are you okay, Mrs Longbottom?" Alice asked her, evidently not realising what exactly had happened.

"Oh, I'm fine, and quite happy my son has such great taste. Who are you?" she looked at Verdona and Spider-monkey critically over her glasses. Alice also turned to them, expectant.

Verdona and Spider-monkey looked at each other, broke into uncontrollable laughter, and disappeared in a flash of mana.

They were still laughing when they appeared back at Ben's room, Spider-monkey falling onto his bed. When they were both spent and Spider-monkey could no longer breathe, he changed back to Ben. He went to the window and looked out. Normal… everything was right again…

"That," Verdona said out of breath, "was the most fun I've had in weeks! I should come here more often."

"Yeah," Ben muttered, downcast. "So much fun that people died."

"Now that alien, he was something," Verdona commented. "Spider-monkey, was it? He can push the sad parts out of his mind… They were dead before we got there Ben." Ben snorted without mirth. "Just keep the magical world secret please," she shook her head. "I'm afraid this is when I have to go search for Max, dear. But I will be back, with a proposition. Wait for me!"

"Bye-" But, even as he turned around, she was gone. Exhausted beyond belief, he fell onto the bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

**A/N: That's it for the HP Xover. We'll see about the next one. I warn you it might be anything, from Twilight to Yu-Gi-Oh. Please tell me your thoughts!**


	5. Two: All that Glitters

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Ben 10. No matter how much I wish I did.

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait. It is unforgivable, but let it be said, **this story isn't dead **and it's not going to be! My Ben 10 muse came back this summer and I simply _had_ to write this! I'm also cooking up another crossover for the next installment of this, which I hope you'll like.

Oh yeah, Gwevin in this chapter, because we can all see Kevin likes her and his point of view kinda dominates this chapter. Also, I'm sorry for compressing the parts that were completely the same as the episode, but I thought it best than to leave them out. Enjoy!

**Two**

**All That Glitters**

"Ben! Hey, wake up!"

"Just five minutes, Mum…" he groaned, burying his face deeper into his pillow.

"_Tempestus!_"

"Gwen!" Ben shivered as he took in his wet surroundings. He was drenched from head to toe, and his bed was not in better shape. "Was that really necessary?"

Gwen sighed, fed up. "Yes, I've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes!"

"Uh, sorry?"

She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "Get ready to go, Kevin said he'd leave you behind if you're late."

"Wait, Gwen! You need to do something about all that water!"

He got ready hastily, taking the stairs two at a time. In the end Gwen was the last one to come out, since she had to dry the bedroom.

The car was silent as they made rounds around the town. Bellwood was quiet that night.

"So what kept you?" Kevin asked, speeding up a little.

"He was sleeping!" Gwen griped from the back seat.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why were you sleeping at six in the afternoon?" Ben didn't answer.

He saw Ben listening to his Grandpa's words for the umpteenth time, replaying the same thing all over again. _'You need to put together a team.'_ He had an intense look on his face, even though he probably had learned the words by heart by then. Heck, _Kevin_ had learned them by heart just being in the same car as him two days in a row.

"You're like a dog with a bone about that thing. Maybe you should see a professional or something."

"Don't take your anger out on me, okay? Just ask her out already if I have to suffer for every minute you don't." Gwen and Kevin had been fighting about that for two days straight and, needless to say, it was becoming annoying.

"Is that why you don't sleep?" she asked. "I mean, the recording?"

Ben let out an unintelligible mumble. Then he jerked, as if abruptly waking up. "How did you know I have problem sleeping?"

"It shows, if you know where to look."

"That's a matter for later. Something's going on up ahead."

Indeed, a part of the bridge they were on was close to collapsing, one of its supports hit by an out of control truck. The truck driver was trapped inside.

Without a word, Kevin went to help the driver, while the cousins saved the people on the dangerous part of the bridge. Thus, they were all unable to abandon their posts to help a girl about to be run over.

Except they didn't need to. A glowing boy around their age literally swept her off her feet and out of danger. A boy with a Plumber's badge.

It turned out his name was Michael Morningstar, and his dad was a Plumber. Up close, he was even more handsome, Gwen noted.

"Ben, as in Ben Tennyson?" he said, awed, and was quick to shake hands. Suddenly, the hero felt like he'd collapse. That didn't show, however, and soon Mike was introduced to the other two.

Then the girl, Trina, was swept into his arms to be returned home by the sparkly fairy-tale prince.

Kevin scowled, seeing the dreamy expression on the redhead's face. He hated Mike's type of guy, charming any girl they wanted and then leaving broken hearts in their wake. Charming _Gwen_!

Damn, he needed to think of something else.

"What's wrong, Tennyson?" Ben was leaning against the car, seemingly trying to focus his gaze on something.

"Ben, are you okay?"

"Does he look okay to you? Tennyson, can you hear me?"

But Ben couldn't or, if he did, gave no indication he had heard him. Suddenly, his sight turned black and he lost all feeling, collapsing where he stood. Kevin reflexively caught him.

He shook him and Ben blinked, disoriented. Gwen made him sit on the side of the road.

"Do you hurt anywhere?" Ben shook his head.

"It's nothing, I just blacked out for a second."

"If that was nothing, I'd hate to see what _something_ is…"

Gwen was contemplating something, looking at her cousin searchingly. She put a hand on his forehead.

"I didn't notice before, but I felt it now. Your energy was a bit destabilised for a moment. I think that caused the black out."

"Great, so we know what's wrong. Big deal! What we _need_ to know is why."

And what did that even mean, _'your energy was destabilised'_? He supposed it was the kid's powers, but he hated to think that something they didn't even notice could destabilise the _Omnitrix_. It was level 20 tech!

"I don't know, Kevin! He was fine a minute ago! At least, I think so."

"Even so," Ben cut in, "I don't think it's such a big deal. More importantly, we should meet up with Mike Morningstar. He could be a good addition to the team."

"Yeah, for sure!" The statement was dripping sarcasm.

Gwen looked pensive for a moment, but then she flashed them a small smile. "You're right. For all we know, it could just be that you're not sleeping well. We'll think on it more after, right?"

They got into the car, Kevin a bit after the Tennysons.

"Am I the only one who thought that was weird?" he muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked, oblivious.

"Would Gwen really just blow off something that could be a problem for a guy we don't know?"

"She wasn't blowing off anything, Kevin. It just isn't a big deal!"

"You really believe it isn't a big deal?"

"For God's sake, I'm just tired! Don't make this any bigger than it has to be!"

Kevin said nothing more, but inside, he was stewing. Something was wrong, and the Tennyson cousins were deliberately being thick-headed about it!

…

Mike proved to be a great person, using his powers to help people in need, and Ben invited him to join the team.

While they were at his house, they had been side-tracked by curious energy usage readings that led them to a fight… as everything usually does. However, they had yet to fight zombie, crazy girls, complete with growling and some sort of energy manipulation.

Even Gwen's magic had turned black and shattered, but of course she was helped by Mike, and in the end the zombie girls, regrettably, retreated.

But that wasn't the end of it.

…

"Kevin, you know you're jealous, right?" his friend deadpanned at him. Gwen had gone with Morningstar for dinner, who was now a member of the team, thanks to fucking Tennyson! So he was going to make the most of the situation and break into his house to see what the guy's real deal was.

"No, it's this Mike guy! He just feels… wrong, can't you see? Nobody's _that_ perfect!"

Even Gwen, admittedly the only person Kevin would rate close to perfection, had flaws. Like her sheer _bossiness_, trying to get him to ask her out! Doesn't she know the guy's supposed to ask the girl out? Maybe he just wasn't ready, maybe he wanted to get to know her better, and maybe he didn't feel like having a relationship at the moment!

To be truthful, though, she _was_ beautiful, and kind, and clever, and strong, and _what the hell's holding you back, Levin?_ Maybe it was that, he theorised. She is all of those things, and what does _he_ have going for him? A bit of roguish charm, the bad boy persona girls generally liked, and a long list of law-breaking activities in his résumé.

Somebody like her wouldn't want to be with someone like him. Maybe she was better suited for Morni-

No, that was wrong, that was definitely wrong. Gwen would never belong with that creep!

Kevin had seen a lot in his life. Not to say that Gwen and Ben were naïve, but he knew when someone wasn't being truthful. When something looks too good to be true, it normally is.

And yeah, he was jealous. As jealous as one can get, but that had _nothing_ to do with the creepiness of Morningstar. Nothing!

"Kevin, don't do this."

"Do you trust the new guy over me? What does that say about the team?"

"You're doing the wrong thing. The _old_ Kevin would do this."

"What's your problem?" he blew up. "First your cousin doesn't care about your health, and you're egging her on, then you invite the creep to the team without any sort of background check, Gwen is weird in the fight and she just turns goofy on us and goes off with Morningstar, and you defend him as if you've known him forever!"

"Kevin…"

"And just so you know, I may not be the most observant guy around, but if you were that bad just from not sleeping, then you would've shut down sooner. I just know Sparkly Pretty-boy had something to do with it," he said fiddling with the lock of the blond's front door.

"Look, it's not Mike. Just because Gwen has better control of her magic and won't almost faint just from shaking hands with a person who also has p-"

"Are you even listening to yourself?!" Kevin shouted, abandoning the lock. "You touch Gwen all the time, but this hasn't happened. If you think people with powers shaking hands turns on some king of connection between them you're being an idiot! At least, more than you usually are," he added.

"How would you know?" Ben threw back. His friend's insistence was beginning to annoy him.

"I've spent a long time around aliens, Ben. And I don't think the Omnitrix has anything to do with what's wrong with you. Now Gwen, I'm sure Morningstar has done something, she's never this mushy." At least, not around him.

"The Omnitrix? What about it?"

"Well, without it, you wouldn't _have_ powers to get tangled up or whatever the heck is wrong with you," the black haired teen said matter-of-factly pushing the now-unlocked door open.

Ben suddenly realised they never told Kevin about him having magic.

"Umm, Kevin, there's something you need to kno-"

"Is Mike home?" they heard a voice ask breathlessly. Out of the woods came stumbling the girl that Morningstar had saved, Trina.

…

Trina had those strange marks that Gwen could have, but they weren't sure because she had been wearing her sleeves lower than usual. And of course, they both saw what they _wanted_ to see.

They came to the conclusion that Gwen had caught whatever bug was going around zombiefying those girls; at least, Ben did. Kevin just became more convinced that Sparkly was behind the weird phenomenon.

After that, it was a simple matter to track her location with Mike's Plumber badge, and the abandoned-looking building didn't really scream 'romantic dinner' to either of them.

…

They found Gwen zombie-like, hanging limply in the arms of Mike Morningstar.

Kevin really wanted to say 'I told you so', but there would be time for that later. Hopefully. If they survived. 'Cause the way the fight was going, before long both he and Ben would be nothing more than piles of glittery ashes.

Sparkly attacked Ben first, and he was down with only one sparkling blast. Kevin followed immediately after, despite the coating of stone he had absorbed. Damn the guy was _powerful_. Even Jetray went down fast.

"I never dreamed that such power could exist in not one, but _two _people. Look how powerful Gwen's energy made me! With yours, I'll have more power than anyone!" Mike said, reaching down to grasp Ben's forearm.

Immediately, the hero felt power leaving his body, power he was never before consciously aware of than now. He tried to wrench his arm away, but his energy was fading too fast, and he couldn't even move.

Out of nowhere, a stone covered Kevin tackled Mike to the ground, but he didn't get any good hits in before the energy vampire absorbed his coating and threw him down once again.

"You're out of your league," Mike gloated. "Gwen's mine now, and soon, so will Ben!"

He levitated in front of the hero, who still hadn't had the strength to move. Ben tried to press down on the Omnitrix, but his limbs failed him the moment Morningstar touched him again.

"Why use your powers to help people, when you can use them to get whatever you want?"

The drained girls suddenly appeared again, like some sort of zombie army. Now _that_ was kinda creepy. Did Morningstar actually _control_ them, or had they agreed to appear on his cue or something. Kevin would never know.

"All I ever wanted was power, and then you brought me Gwen, and now Ben. I guess I should thank you."

Kevin couldn't stand it. Gwen was lying still, deathly pale and powerless, as Ben was being drained of his power… wait, since when did Ben have powers? No matter which way he looked at it though, he knew Morningstar was not stealing the energy of the Omnitrix. So what-?

"I know the perfect thing." Finished draining Ben, he raised his hands to the ceiling, where pipes where running right over where Kevin lay. He released a burst of sparkling energy, but before it could go far, someone threw his aim off.

Kevin broke into a wide grin when he saw familiar red hair, if a bit faded, waving in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"Coming to my senses," Gwen said coldly.

The overwhelming glow surrounding Morningstar faded, and Kevin saw her beautiful, young face again, but Ben's and the girls' power was still inside Morningstar.

"Nice try Gwen, but your cousin had just as much power, and he's not waking up any time soon. I will get your energy back, and there will be no-"

His speech was cut off when all the zombie girls pounced on him from behind, bringing the gold energy vampire to his knees. Seeing what Gwen had done, they took her example and forcibly took back every ounce of energy he'd stolen from them.

Even so, Ben's energy was keeping the guy strong, strong enough that only Gwen could fight him.

"Wake Ben up, I'll fight him!" Gwen shouted, and began attacking Mike with enough anger and ferocity that Kevin had to gape. "Girls, watch out!"

Oh yes, he was enjoying this, and Gwen looked really hot kicking butt…

"Kevin!"

"Right, sorry Gwen," he murmured guiltily. He regretfully focused on Ben's still form beside him, features sunken and pale just as Gwen's had been a few moments before.

"C'mon Tennyson, wake up, the world is ending," he tried, with zero results. "Sumo Slammers new movie is out! Vilgax came back for revenge!"

He resorted to slapping his friend, but that had no effect either. Looks like being drained of your power can make you quite unresponsive.

"Okay Ben, I'm gonna have to be forceful here. Nothing personal, I assure you." Barely twenty seconds passed, and he came back with a bucket of water. It wasn't anything complicated, since the building was right next to a river. He dumbed the contents onto the unsuspecting victim, ehm, his unconscious friend.

"What?" Ben rasped. His voice sounded horrible.

"Come on, you need to get your power back from him." At that moment, Gwen threw Morningstar right next to where they were. Ben, grasping the situation, reached out and grabbed onto the gold arm closest to him.

He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he couldn't allow Mike to have that much power. Ironically, it was Mike himself draining his energy that helped him get a feel for it again and stubbornly tug it back towards himself.

"No, stop! What are you-" But the energy was fading fast, and Ben's skin was returning to normal. In a few seconds, the golden skin peeled back and vanished, and Mike's glow faded to nothing. His cheeks sunk in, paled, and dark bags appeared under his eyes.

"You have no idea how happy this makes me," Kevin told Gwen conversationally. "Also," he fidgeted a bit, "you were amazing out there."

"Thanks," she smiled at him. _'She smiled at ME',_ his heart did a little happy dance.

Morningstar's handsomeness had faded completely. The girls came out of where they'd taken cover during the fight to see how far he'd fallen. None of them knew what to think, but all were grateful that they were back to normal.

Kevin walked calmly up to the blond, took the Plumber's badge from his belt, and broke it in his fist.

"You don't deserve this."

…

On the ride back home, all Ben could think about was what Kevin had said to him back when they were looking for Gwen.

"You're too stuck on following your Grandpa's instructions to see it!"

Had he really been ignoring the signs because he was blindly trying to do what Grandpa Max said?

Yes, he'd realised. Kevin was right. But that hadn't been the only reason. He didn't trust the weird magic he had or his own ability to wield this kind of power, so it had been simpler to ignore the feeling and just stack the blame in his erratic sleep. He thought that surely, it was his fault and he couldn't stop recruiting people, _like Grandpa Max told him_, just because of that.

He'd always thought that underneath it all, without the Omnitrix, he was a simple human. Nothing extra, nothing special. That thought anchored him to humanity mentally just as much as the Omnitrix timing out to prevent the alien personality from taking over. Without the Omnitrix, he was nothing. Just a kid, a kid who still needed his grandpa's instructions if he wanted to get anything done right. Right?

Wrong, as it turned out. Between everything that had happened though, he never had the chance to think about it.

Okay, so despite his kinda light-hearted usage of it, the Omnitrix was a very dangerous weapon that in the wrong hands could mean very bad news. Heck, the thing probably had enough juice to literally destroy the whole entire universe! That was a lot of power for a kid to have.

He'd handled it, though. He knew no matter the circumstances, he wouldn't abuse the power of the Omnitrix in a way that would harm anyone. At least, not purposefully.

Now however, he was being presented with another power, one he couldn't give up whenever he wanted, because it was who _he_ was, a part of him just as much as his green eyes.

He was…

…insecure…

…about whether he could ever control it.

So far, his Anodite powers had never been purposefully called upon. The only way he used them was instinctually, or when in mortal danger. That couldn't go on forever. He wouldn't allow it. If he was scared of his own power he'd be hesitant in everything and, as had been proved, he could make the wrong decisions.

"So, why didn't anyone tell me Ben has powers other than the Omnitrix?" Kevin asked, as an afterthought, when they reached Gwen's house.

"Honestly," Ben replied, "it just slipped our minds. Even we only just found out the day we met you again, because Vilgax decided to try and take the Omnitrix _again_! Only I didn't have it, so I think that jump-started the process."

"Or maybe it was always there and we just didn't see it. We might never know. Goodnight Kevin, Ben," Gwen said, ready to step out of the car.

"Wait!" her cousin stopped her. "I have a favour to ask." He took a deep breath, steeling himself for their reaction. "Will you and Kevin help me get control of my powers?"

For a second, they just looked at him, having expected anything but that to come out of his mouth. Then Gwen smiled and Kevin smirked.

"Of course we will."


End file.
